On Lava La Rue’s jangling new-wave jam “Push N Shuv,” the longer term collides with the previous. La Rue’s vocal takes, recorded when the artist was 21, are a time capsule marking the precise second they sowed the seeds that might develop into their debut album. The vocals intertwine with a piercing flute melody, which provides a touch of sci-fi surrealism to the in any other case retro funk groove. On STARFACE, the document that arrives 5 years after these vocals have been recorded, La Rue continues to catalyze the outdated and the brand new. The result’s a glistening combination of psychedelic funk, ska punk, grunge, soul, and indie rock.
La Rue—whose stage title is an anagram of their delivery title, Ava Laurel (additionally spelled Aiwa Laurel)—was born in west London in 1998. Raised primarily by their Jamaican grandmother, they entered foster care of their teen years. Surrounded by the punk heritage of the West London estates they lived in, they began a DIY band of their very own named the West Borns, which they’ve described as an aspiring “all-girl band model of the Conflict.” Later, at school, they met fellow musicians Lloyd Macdonald and Jess Smyth—now identified by stage names Mac Wetha and Biig Piig—with whom they shaped the NiNE8 Collective. NiNE8 signify a radical proposition in a world of nepo infants: impartial, working-class Gen Z artists who insist on splitting all income equally between them, prioritizing neighborhood and collaboration above solo success. Alongside their work with the collective, La Rue has collaborated with artists together with Clairo, Deb By no means, and Vegyn on their very own music—releasing a clutch of EPs blurring their indie, punk, and rap influences since 2017—in addition to directing visuals for different artists, together with Moist Leg.
Lava heralded a hallucinogenic new period with their 2022 EP Hello-Constancy, a mellow assortment of breezy, trippy funk. On STARFACE, they lean additional into that psychedelic sensibility, this time with bolder, braver melodies and a aptitude for the dramatic. The document hangs round an idea—an alien lands on Earth and learns in regards to the harmful nature of human relationships (or as La Rue places it, a “lesbian Ziggy Stardust”)—however following the narrative isn’t actually essential to benefit from the document’s plush, omnivorous sonic world. Written and recorded between London and L.A., the document has its toes on the rain-spattered concrete of La Rue’s childhood houses and its head in sunny California skies: Flecks of drum’n’bass and ska bump shoulders with soul, funk, and R&B.
In step with La Rue’s collaborative spirit, STARFACE is filled with options. Their NiNE8 friends take turns providing uneven however spirited verses on the bass-driven “Fluorescent Past House”; Biig Piig’s feather-light supply over a rush of Tame Impala-style synths makes a very dreamy impression. La Rue additionally appears to be like exterior the collective for artistic enter, conjuring a queer fantasy with Ok-indie star So Yoon on “INTERPLANETARY HOPPIN,” and romantically reimagining pirate-radio sounds with Malaysian-Irish artist Yunè Pinku on “Second Hand Unhappiness.” In the meantime, on the muscular “Poison Cookie,” La Rue recruits New Jersey rapper Audrey Nuna for a rock anthem with actual superhero struggle montage power.
